CBE4CC Conference Presentation Faculty Development Model - Competency-Based Education

1. National Center for Higher Education Management Systems
3035 Center Green Drive, Suite 150
Boulder, Colorado 80301
Creating Sustainable
Competency-Based Education Programs
Presented to:
CBE4CC
June 5, 2015

2. Design Principles for Competency-Based Education
Programs (CBE)
• The degree reflects robust and valid competencies
• Students are able to learn at a variable pace and are
supported in their learning
• Effective learning resources are available anytime and
are reusable
• The process for mapping competencies to courses,
learning outcomes, and assessments is explicit
• Assessments are secure and reliable
2

3. Requirements for Sustainability
$
Number of Students
Development Renewal Costs
Delivery Costs
Revenues
Overhead (tax)
Sustainable

4. When Creating a Sustainable Business Model, Consider:
1. On-going source of program development/renewal funding
– Generated from Program revenues
– Not dependent on one-time funding after start-up phase
2. Ability to align expenditure patterns with revenue streams
– Ultimate test – can expenditures be managed in a way that lets them
be aligned with subscription-type revenue models and open entry/open
exit admissions
– The more compromises that have to be made to this ideal, the less
attractive to students
3. Flexibility in utilizing human resources
– The ability to allocate human resources to activities in non-traditional
ways is central to
• Flexibility
• Scaling
• And ultimately, sustainability
4

5. 4. The very different infrastructure requirements for CBE
to link to those systems that are in place to support the
institution’s traditional offerings
– Student-centered enrollment, academic progress, and
completion data – not term/time based
– Student financial aid
– Human resources and compensation
5
When Creating a Sustainable Business Model, Consider:

6. Characteristics of Sustainable Models
1. Sustainability sought at the program – not course – level
2. Operating revenues exceed operating expenses
3. They are operated in such a way that costs of serving each student
are kept low
– Fixed costs are either
• Very low, or
• Spread over many students so that the cost/student is low
– Variable costs are
• Linear rather than a step function
• Low on a per student basis
– One-time funds, if any, used for “asset” creation only, i.e., content and
assessment development
– Within 3 years, operating surpluses replace one-time funds as the
source of investment capital/development resources
6

7. Characteristics of Sustainable Models
4. Cost factors are aligned with revenue determinants
a) If tuition paid on a per-course basis, then cost drivers – especially personnel
costs – can be on course-basis
b) If tuition is paid on a time/subscription base, then cost drivers are best on
• A time basis
• A per student basis
c) Assessment costs are the unpredictable element
• Price separately, or
• Limit the number of assessments covered by tuition
• Data analysis reduces unpredictability
5. The infrastructure is in place to support CBE
a) Data systems
• Student records
• Finance
• HR
b) Student Financial Aid
6. A reminder – retention increases are revenue enhancers
7

8. A Framework for the Cost Calculation
8

9. Activities by Provider(s) of that Activity
9
Type
of
Provider
-­‐-­‐>
Full-­‐%me
Faculty
Adjunct
Faculty
Non-­‐Faculty
Staff
Students
Technology
Open
Source/
External
Contract
Type
of
Ac1vity
Design
course
specifica1ons
Create
learning
materials
Select
learning
materials
Delivery
of
course
content
Academic
assistance/
tutoring
Facilita1on
of
student
group
ac1vi1es
Design/
select
assessments
Administer
assessments
Evaluate/
grade
assessments

10. Activities by Provider(s) of that Activity
(continued)
10
Type
of
Provider
-­‐-­‐>
Full-­‐%me
Faculty
Adjunct
Faculty
Non-­‐Faculty
Staff
Students
Technology
Open
Source/
External
Contract
Type
of
Ac1vity
Monitor
student
engagement
and
progress
Interven1on/referral
for
at-­‐
risk
students
Ins1tu1onal
academic
support
resources
for
at-­‐
risk
students
(Wri1ng
Center,
Math
Lab,
etc.)
Academic
advising/
coaching
Technical
support
Program
admissions
/
selec1on
Career
counseling
Orienta1on

11. Activities by Provider(s) of that Activity
An example: Traditional Face to Face Instruction
11
Type
of
Provider
-­‐-­‐>
Full-­‐%me
Faculty
Adjunct
Faculty
Non-­‐Faculty
Staff
Students
Technology
Open
Source/
External
Contract
Type
of
Ac1vity
Design
course
specifica1ons
X
Create
learning
materials
X
Select
learning
materials
X
Delivery
of
course
content
X
Academic
assistance/
tutoring
X
X
Facilita1on
of
student
group
ac1vi1es
X
Design/
select
assessments
X
Administer
assessments
X
Evaluate/
grade
assessments
X

12. Activities by Provider(s) of that Activity
An Alternative Example
12
Type
of
Provider
-­‐-­‐>
Full-­‐%me
Faculty
Adjunct
Faculty
Non-­‐Faculty
Staff
Students
Technology
Open
Source/
External
Contract
Type
of
Ac1vity
Design
course
specifica1ons
X
Create
learning
materials
X
Select
learning
materials
X
Delivery
of
course
content
X
Academic
assistance/
tutoring
X
X
Facilita1on
of
student
group
ac1vi1es
X
Design/
select
assessments
X
Administer
assessments
X
Evaluate/
grade
assessments
X

13. For More Information Contact:
Dennis Jones
dennis@nchems.org
303-497-0301
National Center for Higher Education Management Systems